


How to Win a Betting Pool

by The_Dark_Elf



Series: Sword and Shield [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), F/M, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Pidge is bad at social interaction, Pining, adopted keith, everyone tells keith to talk to her and nope, terrible attempts at flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 20:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20453336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Dark_Elf/pseuds/The_Dark_Elf
Summary: Keith asks (and doesn't ask) the other paladins for ideas on how to ask Pidge out. Pidge just wants to know why everyone is acting so weird.OrThe five times the Paladins tried to help Keith ask Pidge out, and the one time Pidge womaned up and asked Keith out.





	How to Win a Betting Pool

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came from Ayesha who left a comment on my last work. They mentioned a series of fumbles of everyone trying to help Keith get a date/trying to win the betting pool and I couldn't get the idea out of my head. So here it is!

1 Shiro

It wasn’t the first time Keith had come to his brother for advice, but it was definitely the first time that Shiro had laughed. 

“This was stupid, nevermind.” Keith was flushed an angry red as he turned away, but a wheezing Shiro grabbed his arm before he could take a step. 

“Wait! Wait, Keith. I-I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just-” Shiro snorted softly and shook his head before continuing, “I’ve seen the two of you grow up; you two have been inseparable since you were kids. Why don’t you just tell her?”

Keith frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned to glare up at his brother. “In all the time that you’ve known her, has she ever shown interest in anyone much less me? What if I make a fool of myself and ruin everything? This isn’t some random girl that Lance is hitting on in the space mall; this is Katie. She’s just… her, and I’m just some half-Galra that has issues with authority.”

A sad sigh, then Shiro’s arms were wrapped around him in a tight hug. “You’re not just anything, Keith. You and Katie have been best friends since you were kids, and you are the only one that I have seen Katie open herself up to. She only lets you into Green’s hanger when she’s working. She only allows you to make her sleep after working too long. You are the only one other than Matt that she allows to take care of her. Just tell her how you feel.”

Keith pressed into the hug, letting his forehead rest on Shiro’s shoulder as he tried to control his breathing. “I’ll think about it. I just…” 

“I understand. Remember how long it took me to ask Adam out?”

“If I remember correctly, you didn’t ask him out. I told him you thought he was hot then hid in a tree for two hours while you threatened to kill me with Matt and Adam laughing in the background.”

“Exactly.”

2 Lance 

“Keith, my lovely mullet, what the quiznack were you thinking not coming to moi for dating advice?” Lance was leaning against his door frame, smirking down at him. 

Keith hesitated only a moment, holding mid-pushup, and contemplated the likelihood of Red accepting him again if he killed her current Paladin. Not good. Quiznack. “I was thinking, Lance, that I would like to actually date her rather than end up tied to some alien tree in the middle of nowhere.”

“Okay, rude.” 

There was the slightest smile tugging on Keith’s lips as he pushed himself up into a standing position, snagging a black T-shirt from where he had thrown it over his bed. Lance whistled. Keith shot him a rude gesture. 

“I changed my mind, Mullet. All you need to do is walk up to our lovely Pigeon all sweaty and shirtless post-workout, and she will fall all over you.” 

“Two things about that: one, if all I wanted was for her to be attracted to me that would still be the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard of; and two, Pidge is one of two girls on an alien spaceship with five different men in close proximity, she’s seen all of us in all states of undress and every time she has threatened to blind herself.”

Lance opened his mouth, then closed it again with a nod. They had all heard her dramatic wailings whenever one of them forgot to lock the communal shower, and some of them (Lance) had been tased more than once for walking into her room without knocking first. If partial nudity was all it took for someone to fall in love (lust) they would all be in a relationship by now. 

“Alright, Plan B: Smooth talk her.”

“No.”

“Listen, Mullet. It never fails! You get her alone, compliment her, tell her she shines brighter than any star-”  
“Lance that is literally the worst thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Just think about it.”

“No.”

-

Later, if Pidge was startled out of her latest tinkering project by a flushed Keith complimenting her on how well she could work with alien tech before he quickly walked out the door, Lance would never find out. 

3 Hunk

“Hey, big guy. Can I ask you something?”

“You just did, but I’m going to give you a pass on another question.” Hunk closed the oven and turned to look at Keith with an easy smile that helped set Keith at ease. Out of all the Paladins (other than Pidge and Shiro) Hunk was always the easiest to go to when he had problems.

“How did you tell Shay…” Keith’s cheeks flamed as he trailed off, scuffing his boot against the pristine kitchen floor. 

“How did I tell her that I like her? I didn’t really. We were more focused on the whole ‘not dying’ thing, and by the time we were out of it we just kind of assumed that we were a thing. Though, I don’t recommend the whole constant-fear-of-death method of getting Pidge to go out with you.”

Keith’s head snapped up to meet Hunk’s smiling face. Somehow he managed to look both smug and understanding of Keith’s situation. “Keith, if you thought me and Shay were obvious you clearly have no idea how you and Pidge act together. The two of you are like two halves of one person. I’ve seen the two of you have full conversations from one look and a few unintelligible hand gestures.”

“We’ve been friends for-”

“And Shiro is your brother who has known Pidge almost since her birth. That man is just as confused as the rest of us when the two of you are plotting.”

“To be fair, we came up with it so Shiro and Matt wouldn’t know what we were planning.” Keith was smiling now, thinking of all the pranks the two of them had pulled on their brothers over the years. With Katie acting as the brain and Keith as the distraction, they had terrorized their brothers (and later Adam) with everything from bad dye jobs to a particularly great one involving Matt, way too much jello, and several small explosives that ended with him and Katie grounded for six months and both families vowing to never talk about it again.

Hunk laughed softly, drawing Keith out of his thoughts. “That’s exactly what I mean Keith. You two have a connection. All you need to do is let her know that you are interested in her that way.”

“That’s kind of exactly the problem, Hunk. Thanks for that.”

Hunk looked like he was contemplating which one of them he was going to shoot with his bayard. “Have you not seen one romance movie in your entire life?”

“I lived with a single dad then was adopted by a single dad with a teenaged son.”  
“All of you are useless. Have a nice dinner! Tell her she’s pretty! Kiss her!” 

“If you haven’t noticed, we’re in space. I can’t really pull off dinner and a movie, and I would probably just poison us both if I tried.” 

Hunk huffed and tipped his head back to look up at the ceiling, looking like he was counting. “How about this: ask her on a date, see what she says, and I’ll handle the menu.”

Keith was frowning, already going through a whole list of everything that could possibly go wrong if he just asked Pidge on a date, when the door slid open and Pidge walked in. Hunk slammed his arm back against the wall with a yelp, and Keith jumped so high he slammed his knee into the counter.

“What the Quiznak is wrong with you two?” Pidge asked as she walked past them to the pantry, emerging moments later with handfuls of alien snacks and a single package of Earth chips they had managed to grab from the space mall hanging from her teeth.

“Nothing!”

“Keith has something to tell you!” They spoke at the same time. Pidge frowned and shot Keith a look, silently asking him what the hell was going on. Keith would give anything to sink into the ground.

“I just… I needed… you are…” Keith huffed and took a deep breath. “Just wanted to make sure everything was okay after your last mission. Hunk said you took a bad hit.”

The fire in Pidge’s eyes was familiar, the same as every time he had asked about one of her injuries, but she didn’t hit him as she would if it was Lance or Matt so there was that. She dropped her chips on the counter and raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know what you’re learning from those Blades, but I’m far from some delicate flower, Keith. If you forget I’m more than willing to hand your ass to you in the training room.” With that she gathered her haul and stormed from the room.

They were quiet for several long moments before Keith groaned and dropped his head in his hands. “I choked.”

“Yeah, man. That was painful… Cookie?”

“Thanks, Big Guy.”

4 Allura

“Keith…”

“Yes, Allura?”

“The mice told me about-”

“No. We’re not doing this.”

“But, Kei-”

“Goodbye, Alura!”

5 Kolivan

“What is on your mind?”

Keith huffed and flopped back on the training mat. Where to begin? “I think I’ve been in love with my best friend since we were children, and now that I have the chance to be something more than her, we are in the center of an intergalactic war were either of us could die at any moment. Not to mention she has shown no interest in me romantically, her over protective brother currently in residence, and the three other guys that would probably be better for her than I could ever be that are all around constantly while I’m off on Blade missions.” He lifted his head and let it thud back against the floor.

“I’m pathetic.”

“Yes, but you are young. You are supposed to be pathetic.”

“Thanks, man. Definitely what I need today.”

“Spar with me. You won’t find a solution with your current state.”

Violet eyes looked up to meet the older Galra’s. After a moment, Keith shrugged and got to his feet in a fluid motion. “What the hell? Kick my ass.”

+1 Matt

“Why is everyone acting so weird?” Pidge huffed as she threw herself back on the couch next to her brother. Matt didn’t even look up from the laptop - her laptop that he stole hours ago, bastard - but he did lift his arm so she could nuzzle into his side. It was familiar, the warmth and scent of him letting her go boneless like she hadn’t done in months.

“They are probably just waiting for Keith to buck up and kiss you already,” He said absently, still shifting through the color-coded data at a pace only she could match.

Wait… what? “Matthias Matterhorn Holt, what are the quiznak are you trying to say? Keith isn’t interested in me.” 

Matt finally put the laptop down and looked her in the eye. “Pidge, my darling little starter Pokemon, you really do need my glasses.” He poked her between the eyes, only laughing when she smacked his hand away. “That boy is head over heels in love with you, and he has been from the moment you told him you broke some jackass’s nose.”

Pidge blinked. Does not compute. He leaned back against the cushions and waited for her to reboot herself, knowing better than anyone that she needed the time to process things like feelings and emotions like other people would need for complex mathematical theories. It was only when she shook her head and pulled back with that little frown that he raised an eyebrow at her. 

“So you’re telling me, everyone has been trying to help him ask me out today?”

“I’m telling you that both of you are hopeless at emotions. At this point, I think Zarkon could see how much you like each other.”

He delighted in the huff of irritation that left her, but suppressed his grin. She would only kick his ass all over again if he laughed at her now. For as much as she understood math and computers things like feelings and people had her acting very much the teenaged girl she was under all that armor. 

“I have to do something,” She said distractedly, standing and making her way toward the door. She paused, however, right as it slid open for her. “Thanks, Ratthew. You’re not all that bad for a brother.”

“Careful, Katie. You might trick someone into thinking you actually like me.”

She flashed him a grin and a vulgar gesture before she was running down the hall, headed for the training room. Matt laughed when he was alone again, smirking to himself. Poor Keith had no idea what was coming. 

-

Pidge barreled into the training room, scanning it for the lanky emo she wanted. There. He was dressed in his Blade undersuit still and was currently blade-to-blade with a (if Pidge didn’t know better) smirking Kolivan. She took a moment to watch how the black fabric stretched over the lithe muscles of his back and arms, knowing from experience just how much force he put behind each one of those blows. They had spent hours together on the mats, trying out new techniques and honing their skills until they were almost evenly matched. Keith would forever have the height/weight advantage, but Pidge had been able to knock him on his ass a time or five.

Kolivan’s eyes darted up to her for a second, then back to Keith. With one, frankly overdramatic, motion he had disengaged from the half-galra boy and nodded back to her. Keith’s scowl fell the moment he turned to see her, and a small smile tugged on his lips for a second.

“Pidge?” His voice was so soft, gentle in the way he only ever was with her. And that confirmed everything she needed to know.

One minute she was lingering at the door the next she had collided with Keith’s chest with enough force to knock him off balance for a second time that day. The air escaped him in a huff, but his arms didn’t hesitate to wrap around her, holding her up with ease. Just like he had since his last growth spurt that had left him towering over her. Those hands that had sent so many Galra to their knees held her as if she was made of glass, like she was something infinitely precious.

“Katie?” He breathed, looking down at her with a question in his eyes. Her name. God she had always loved how he said her name.

Words jammed in her throat as she tried to get all of them out at once. She had never been good at the whole ‘talking’ thing, and now with Keith so close she couldn’t even manage the torrent of ramblings that always came out when she was nervous. So she did the next best thing.

Pidge surged forward and pressed their lips together in a sloppy kiss. It was a little too fast and hard, knocking her teeth up against her lips, but when Keith’s breath hitched and he pressed back against her, she didn’t care. How could she when the hand gripping her thighs tightened and he let out a shuddering breath against her lips? 

When they finally pulled back, Keith’s violet eyes were blazing as they took in every inch of her face. Pidge knew she had to be a blushing mess, but she only smiled back at him. 

“So, once this whole intergalactic war thing calms down, want to go see a movie with me?” She asked at last.

Keith laughed and leaned in to kiss her again. “Why wait that long? I say we get your laptop back from Matt and set something up in Green’s hanger. She won’t let anyone else bother us.”

“And they say I’m the genius.”

-

In the observation deck, Matt smirked at the collection of Altean’s, humans, and Galra. “And that, my friends and dubious acquaintances, is how you win the betting pool.”

“You cheated!” Lance shouted from by the door.

“Can’t cheat if you don’t set rules, Blue.” Matt laughed. Honestly, where did they think Katie learned it from?

**Author's Note:**

> Comments? Ideas? Just want to say hi and cry with me over how cute these two are? And if you like what I do and feel like a comment isn't enough support me on Ko-fi? Not needed but definitely appreciated as my under-caffeinated self tries to get through college while working full time and trying to do what I love.  
https://ko-fi.com/the_dark_elf


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